THE ONE FOR SARAH; A MOVIE FOR TWO (A REVIEW)

Trino Motion Pictures has joined the league of production houses that are redeeming the image of Nollywood in the global scene. This is a 2022 movie that beats Kunle Afolayan at it in some aspects of film production. I fell in love with the Beverly Naya character, Sarah. I mean, if there has ever been a more attractive woman in the world, it is a damsel in distress named Sarah and she played that character so professionally, so naturally, that I understood why Michael was bent on protecting her at no cost and Fred went head over heels in love with her. The One for Sarah is a beautifully told story about a young lady seeking salvation and healing from an abusive relationship and how good friends saved her.

Plot

Cast in a high profile part of Lagos, the movie started with a blind date gone bad. Sarah is seen being dropped off late at night by her blind date and they have a little altercation which shows they did not really vibe well together. Sarah discovers she has been locked out by the estate’s funny but mean gateman (played by Broda Shaggi), Kabiru. She tries to scale the fence into the estate and as she struggles to extract her dress from a spike on the fence where it got stuck, she is discovered by a resident of the estate, Michael (played by Bucci Franklin) who makes a joke of the scenario while helping her her dress free from the spike and get down from the fence safely.

Sarah keeps her friend, Lizzy (played by Bimbo Ademoye), abreast with her encounters with men as Lizzy happens to be the one that had been helping her get over her ex boyfriend, the over abusive. Sarah is portrayed as an aspiring, gifted fashion designer and boutique owner who has decent standards laid out for her kind of man, chief of which is “non-violence.”

The proceeding scenes pace gently as they show how the frightened and shamed Sarah stumbles upon Fred (played by Uzor Arukwe) just after having her dress torn by the gate as Kabiru, the mean Gateman as he forcefully locks the gate, just as Sarah barges through. Fred offers her his coat to cover her backside. What a figurative scene!

Here is a lady naked, cold and hurt from another relationship and a knight in shining armor appears with a covering in his hands.

Then as the drama unfolds, you discover that the new moneybag client Fred is working on, Dare ( played by Daniel Etim Effiong) is the same wicked ex boyfriend that Sarah is running from and trying to heal from.

There is a psychological fact to this twist. One can be healthy and strong in every other aspect of life and yet still be dysfunctional in relationship. Many of us might be called abusive without knowing we are. Products of abusive homes and relationships are bound to be abusive.

So, Dare is presented as the Sarah-obsessed guy who has business with Fred but is ready to squash that business deal because he sees a connection between Fred and Michael who later got Sarah making clothes for his models.

Michael had discovered Dare was the woman beater and descended on him as he stood talking business with Fred.

The next time Dare and Michael (who he thought was dating his woman, Sarah) met was real violent. Dare knocks out Michael and as he advances on Sarah to beat her up, Fred shows up again and engages Dare in a face off. Sarah acts on her affirmation, “I am strong”, and joins in on the fight getting Dare outnumbered. Dare is finally knocked out, or killed, maybe.

I love that twist of misunderstanding that was made during Fred and Sarah’s first date. The way drunk Michael’s sister held onto Fred as he tried to get her into a car and take her home. This got Sarah to take steps back from seeing Fred, putting Fred on a long thing. This air was cleared as the movie ends. It played like a great orchestra and finish as beautifully as it started. I however think Michael should have walked away as the duo kissed in the last scene. Standing there and shrugging looked like he was expecting a hug or a threesome. Lol.

Verdict

This is one movie I would recommend for lovebirds on a date night. I cannot stop reeling at how sweet the sound track of the movie sounded, the pure art in the flow of the story and the professional delivery of the actors. I however think Michael could have done better. His character did not really merge with his personality like others did. The rest of the acts were simply amazing.

This movie is streaming on Netflix

Inside Nollywood Rating 4.5/5